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| Chris Reilly, Janine Booth (both RMT) and Abi Moorcock |
Reading Trades Union Council, Reading & District Labour Party and Reading Socialist Club joined together to organise a night of reading, poetry and feminist comedy at Market House, Reading, co-hosted by RTUC President, Chris Reilly (RMT), and Abi Moorcock. The headline performer was Janine Booth, returning to Reading after successful RTUC events in 2017 and 2018. Janine read extracts and poems from her new book, The Big J vs The Big C. This was followed by local speakers talking and performing about Reading's fight to save our National Health Service.
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| Abi Moorcock |
David McMullen (GMB), Secretary of RTUC, spoke about the plague of wholly-owned subsidiary companies mushrooming in the public sector, with Frimley Hospital being a local current campaigning focus. He also advocated greater accountability for the Care Quality Commission and, following Janine's promotion of women making regular checks of their breasts, he emphasised the importance for men to do the same with their testicles.
Abi Moorcock followed David with a great musical section and Debbie Watson (Unite) spoke about trade union struggles within the NHS. Kate Smurthwaite rounded the performances off with some rib-tickling feminist comedy.
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| Kate Smurthwaite |
Janine was part of the ranting poetry movement in the 1980s, performing as ‘The Big J’. In late 2016, she discovered a strange indentation in her right breast and was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her new book is a collection of candid and enthralling journal extracts, poetry, meticulous research and substantive politics in which she details her journey from detection and diagnosis, through surgery, to ‘getting over it’.
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| Janine Booth (RMT) |
Event tickets were sold for £5, with all proceeds after costs going to the Royal Berkshire Hospital Charity - a sum of over £150.
